Something I discovered. An attempt to write about art after a trip to the UP Vargas Museum. Spare me, spare yourself..
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Landscapes as Events and
Experiences
Understanding Romanticism would
usually take me to a translation of it into another genre of art – through
dance. For me to be able to grasp the
abstract sense of romanticism, it often had to be translated into another
abstract movement piece, something that is phenomenological. Often, the sense of the Divine and the
supernatural is more easily experienced by the performer and understood through
movements as being part of the fleeting phenomenon.
Reflecting the sense of the
Divine, sublime and supernatural, it is important to understand that Filipinos
take their spirituality to deeper levels in quite unlikely ways compared to our
Western counterparts. Throughout the
history and culture of the indigenous peoples - the seas, skies and trees are
key factors in the core spiritual beliefs.
How modern Filipino artists were (or still are) able to capture these
old spiritual sense of the Divine is a curious thing, not without undergoing
transformation, translation and interpretation throughout the changes in time.
As part of our history, some
Filipino artists went abroad to study technique and composition, the Western
strains and influences are reminiscent in some works of Filipino artists (note:
Juan Luna and Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo).
Picnic in Normandy by Juan
Luna is one classic example of landscape painting distinct with European
influences. The figures are obviously
European and the scenic setting is quite somewhere we cannot find in the
Philippines. Although the landscape
paintings in general are something the public can easily relate to, I
personally noticed that there is at least some sense when we know that the
setting is distinctly Filipino. Often,
there is a sense of familiarity despite the lack of the images of the
Filipino. It is the very interpretation
of the landscape that represents what is ours.
An example of a different take on this sense of familiarity is Residence in Hanoi by Santos
Resurreccion Novicio. Though the title
is a dead giveaway, we know through the structure of the houses and the warm
feel that this is not the Philipines, yet Asian in setting. The warmer colors, the recognizable trees, in
contrast to the cooler hues of Western landscape portraits - attest to this
observation of the sense of familiarity.
Pre-war paintings (or whatever
lack thereof of war representations) usually present images of the folk and the
rural. We would tend to see carabaos, dark-skinned people and people
portrayed in their everyday lifestyles.
The simplicity and the tranquility of life are apparent. Examples of these paintings include Kanlaon Mountain by Maria Iglesias, Pasig River by Ramon Peralta, Ricefield in Singalong by Patricio
Gaston O’farell and River View from Sta.
Ana by Fabian de la Rosa. The
Philippines is a tropical country, and we get the feeling through the paintings
that it is so. The pieces by incredible
Western artists which were discussed in class, their colors tend to be cooler
and darker by contrast. The painters do
indeed present their European landscapes as they see them. It is interesting to note that there are more
landscape paintings compared to seascape paintings. As the artists from Luzon are more exposed to
art, it would be interesting to see art pieces from other major regions and
islands of the Philippines.
Given that the Philippines is a
tropical country, it is then established that the colors we see in the
paintings are tropical as well. The use
and play of lights and colors is notable as the artists capture the scenic
beauty of the Philippines. Throughout
the Vargas collection, the nature portraits are dominated by the oil and canvas
medium, so much so that it is quite surprising and refreshing to see a piece done
in watercolor. Los Baňos by Fabian de la Rosa was done in watercolor. Watercolor as we know by now, gives a
different texture and effect. The
effects of the colors are more subtle and fleeting compared to the vivid marks
and vibrant tendencies of the oil.
Watercolor paintings, one way or another, are more ethereal. In many cases the warmth of the oil paintings
are decidedly warmer than the warm colors of the watercolor. Countryside
and Imus Landscape by Teodora
Buenaventura explore the warmer colors and hue.
In addition, what I noted in my observations on the works Countryside by Carmen Bernabe and A House by the Brook in Ilocos Norte by
Severino Fabie, is that there is ‘nothing too pretty’ and the dominant colors
are brown and earth. These paintings
were done by oil, and done on boards and linens. Artists never fail to intimate the details as
well. Even the careful study of the
movements or the anatomy is hardly missing anything. Fishing, planting and the plowing of the
fields were interpreted and portrayed loyal to the actions, lines, and colors
of the real thing. Sometimes they are
alive and vibrant, sometimes just eerily quiet.
There were also paintings in
darker ambience, with eerie impressions and the sense of the macabre. The painting Toilers of the Sea by Ricarte Pungunan portrays fishermen seemingly
in the middle of a vast somewhere out in the seas. This testifies to the Romantic notions of the
sublime and the magnificent. Except for
a small hint of land in the far left, the sea is presented as a large, overwhelming
body, dominating the frame. Another
contrast or sense of vastness is Sunset
Clouds by Dominador Castañeda. The
picture is dominated by the natural landscape, except for a lone shadowy figure
and a bahay kubo.
The departure from the scenic,
tranquil settings is evident in the (post) war images done by artists who
perhaps were able to experience (the war) as well. Fernando Amorsolo and Dominador Castañeda are
two artists who explored and experimented with this change of theme. Ravaged
Manila by Castañeda, and the paintings of ruins by Fernando Amorsolo (including
Sand Sebastian Church Through Quiapo
Ruins, Ruins of Manila Cathedral and Rizal
Avenue on Fire) are far cries from their pieces on rural settings. Despite the lack of the humans and their
telltale and obvious emotions, they still managed to portray the damages and
negative effects of war. Japanese Patrol by Castañeda contrasts war and peace.
The view of the landscape – in its beauty and harmlessness is intruded
by the images of fighter planes and bombs.
Despite the dominance of the natural setting, and only few and small
fighter planes were painted, we are still given the sense of the foreboding. All these pictures represent the romantic pull
of making haunting, yet ironically beautiful images.
My personal view on these
paintings is that they do indeed offer a sense of the sublime and the
Divine. The feelings evoked (especially
after the time spent viewing the collection at the Vargas museum) are
consistently with sense of respect and quiet contemplation. In remarkable contrast to modern and
contemporary art galleries, what I appreciate about Romantic art is the
impression of the spiritual it stirs up in the viewer. Though I am personally a contemporary art
enthusiast and practitioner, viewing romantic art is a refreshing departure
from the modern, fast-paced, noisy, chaotic and (almost always) disturbing
images contemporary art brings. My
personal preferences and biases are on landscape and seascape paintings. Though ruins can be fascinating and darkly
so, sometimes the initial impressions the ruins bring is simply too unnaturally
still and lacking in movements which I cannot exactly pinpoint. Perhaps being a dance major, I prefer the
‘movements’ the nature paintings present (with their use of colors and shades)
as opposed to the urban paintings in Romantic art. If presented two Romantic paintings and each
without images of human beings – the pre-war pieces always strike me as more alive. The fresh perspective Romantic art brings and
the quiet contemplations are always welcome breaks from time to time.
ReferenceVaughan,
William. "Natural Painture." William, Vaughan. Romanticism and
Art. London: Thames and Hudson, 1994. 184-221.
